Review: Stargate 15th anniversary Blu-ray DVD
It seems like the original Stargate movie was released more than 15 years, what with the 3 TV series, books and additional merchandising that have come since. However, it has been 15 years and to celebrate and commemorate it, Lionsgate has released a special Blu-ray version of the movie that includes over 4 additional hours of features. We had a chance to review the DVD recently.
Apart from the original theatrical release, the DVD also includes an extended director’s cut that adds just under 10 minutes of additional footage. Top fans will appreciate this cut. What was more important to me was that the movies were remastered in 1080p Hi-Def widescreen with 7.1 DTS audio. The picture was stunning.
Other features (or in some cases, named ‘featurettes’) included an interactive game, a gag reel, an audio commentary version of the movie narrated by the director/producer/writers Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, and 5 short pieces that like the “Making of Stargate” documentary and “Is there a Stargate?” which explored whether aliens have visited Earth.
I wouldn’t buy the DVD for the interactive game which I found to be way too slow, didn’t show the correct answers, and with very long gap between questions that you can’t skip past.
I also found the gag reel to be too esoteric for my taste and forgettable.
However, I very much liked the additional ‘featurettes’:
- “Is There a Stargate” – although misnamed, this piece asked the question whether aliens have ever visited Earth. They could have gone the traditional route of debunking it, but instead decided on the more fun, interesting point of view, providing some of the evidence gathered by writer Erich von Daniken.
- “Deciphering the Gate: Casting & Concepts”, “Opening the Gate: The Making of the Movie”, “Passing Through the Gate: The Legacy”, “The Making-of Stargate” – I really liked these featurettes. They were informative, gives fans insights into the history of the movie without running on too long.
Although I personally didn’t think the extended cut really added that much more to the movie, hardcore fans will probably appreciate it. All in all, for a reasonable price (under $20), you can now add the Stargate movie to your collection in all its remastered glory.
(Disclaimer: Gizmos for Geeks received a complimentary review copy of this product.)
I finally got a chance to test out Virgin America’s in-flight WiFi service for myself on a Boston to Los Angeles flight and found that it performed quite well. Download speed (which is what most folks care about) was well over 1Mbps in all of my various speed tests; in some cases, I got as much as 2.5Mbps. However, those folks looking to do some more serious work that involved uploads should be cautioned – I barely got 300kbps and those uploads tests stuttered in more than a few cases.
